


Where We're Going

by asphodelknox



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Mature only because of swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:30:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asphodelknox/pseuds/asphodelknox
Summary: A sweet little story about how Harry still makes Louis strong, even after coming out, even after more albums together and apart.





	

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** This is a work of fiction with mature and/or explicit content that is not suitable for readers under the age of 18. I absolutely do not condone minors reading this work of fiction and encourage anyone underage to stop reading immediately. Thank you.

Louis closed the door behind him and leaned heavily against it. He took in a deep breath and let it out, pushing himself to stand up straight and put his keys in the tray.

“Babe?” He called as he pushed his shoes off his feet, leaving them laying haphazardly next to Harry’s perfectly places shoes. “Haz?”

He could smell something delicious from the kitchen and could hear the radio turned on, so he meandered down the hall, following his nose. He entered the kitchen and saw Harry standing at the stove. He was stirring something that looked like rice or risotto, his tongue sticking out between his lips and a slight frown on his face.

Louis couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey Hazza,” he said as he walked to stand behind Harry. Louis wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and buried his face in the space right in between Harry’s shoulder blades.

“He, Lou.” Harry hummed. “I didn't hear you come in. How was recording today?” He kept on stirring and Louis didn’t remove his face from where it snuggled into Harry’s back.

“It was fine. We nailed the song.” He shrugged. He was tired. All he wanted to do was pull Harry away from the stove and snuggle up on the couch for the next week. He could feel Harry pause.

“Babe,” Harry stopped stirring and turned the heat off on the stove before turning around and nosing at Louis’s face to look into his eyes. Sometimes Louis thought Harry could see into his soul the way he looked into his eyes. Louis was sure Harry would see disappointment and frustration today. “Hey, what’s wrong? You’re normally all hustle and bustle when you nail a song.”

Louis shrugged again. Did he want to talk about it? He chewed his bottom lip. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen negative comments before, but ever since the end of One Direction’s hiatus and the start of his solo projects he’d been busier than he’d been in a long time. Nothing like his life constantly on tour with One Direction pre-hiatus but still...busy. He hardly had the mental energy required to read through the positive comments about him, let alone the negative articles still claiming that Louis didn’t deserve to be a part of the band. 

 

Whenever Louis brought this up, Harry was quick to remind him that Louis had been active as a musician for eight years...who were they kidding at this point?

And something about today had just been off after he had read that one negative article. They nailed the song, but after more attempts than usual and regardless of Louis’s writing chops and Liam’s producing, he felt like something was still missing from the lyrics.

Writing a whole album as just the band had been hard. Hard but worth it when their hiatus was over and the world received them back not as a boyband, but as accomplished artists in their own right. Their success has surprised even their fans.

 

Writing a whole album by himself though, was sometimes mind numbing. Louis waffled between being inspired and annoyed on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. His first album had been full of duets and partnerships with other credible artists. His second album was all him.

 

He wasn't sure how Harry had done it.

They did say your second album was the hardest though. Louis thought it was probably made even worse when you’d only just come out to the entire world, and your partner was the next big rock star. Not only did he have more eyes looking at what he would produce with more judgment, but Louis was afraid everyone would be comparing him to Harry.

Which was ridiculous, considering they both wrote and sang different genres. But still. Louis could read and the articles often said they weren’t sure if Louis would have the same success as Harry. Harry was bound and determined to not let Louis dwell on the reviewer's opinions.

His determination had led to more than a few nights of pretty fantastic sex all over their house in an effort to take Louis's mind off the negativity. As if they hadn’t already christened every inch when they bought it. Or when they finally came out to the world.

“Babe,” Harry said again and leaned down to kiss him gently on the cheek, moving then to his jaw, and ending on Louis’s lips. Louis slid his tongue in between Harry's lips and both men moaned. Harry pulled back reluctantly. “We have a little while before dinner is ready...want to go sit and talk for a minute? I’ll grab us some beers.”

Louis hesitated, debating between pulling Harry upstairs to their bedroom and going to the couch and talking. He figured though that it’d be better to talk so he nodded and let Harry guide him into the living room with the promised beers. He collapsed on the couch and snuggled into Harry, taking a deep smell of his favorite person. It was crazy how Harry’s smell alone could make Louis feel less stressed, less annoyed, less frustrated with the world. And the beers probably helped a little too.

“Were you working on Strong 2.0?” Harry asked, and Louis could feel him grinning into his forehead. Louis had written so many songs about Harry being his rock, being his strength. He’d be nothing without his curly haired, all smiles, vivacious other-half. But this new song, the one Harry had lovingly nicknamed Strong 2.0, was Louis’s (and Harry’s) favorite so far.

The song didn’t have a real title yet because Louis wasn’t sold on the lyrics of the chorus being the name of the song. He wouldn’t be surprised if Strong 2.0 stuck...he knew their Larry Stylinson fans would have a field day. They’d waited long enough to see Harry and Louis out and happy in public anyways. If it wasn’t for their fans’ support, their managers would never have let them come out together.

Louis nodded. “There’s just something about the lyrics that isn’t right. I feel like it’s not quite conveying what I want it to.” He sat back to look Harry in the eye. “I wrote Strong almost seven years ago. We’ve been to hell and back since then, Haz. And now we’re finally out and finally free to just live our lives how we want to live them for the most part. And you’re still my rock.”

Harry nodded, a soft smile on his lips. “So the sentiment is the same, isn’t it? Just told from a new perspective of not having to hide anymore?” Harry was always good at helping Louis figure out the details of his songs. They made good songwriting partners for that reason.

“Definitely the same sentiment. I couldn’t have done any of this without you, really.” Louis frowned. “Maybe that’s why I’m having a hard time. I haven’t written from this perspective before.”

“Do you think there’s still more you need to say though? I mean, you have to get tired of writing about me all the time, right?” Harry smirked at Louis. Louis gave Harry a look right back and they both succumbed to laughter, wide grins spread across their faces. They both knew the answer to that. They’d never run out of songs to write about each other. That was as obvious as the sky being blue.

“Really, Hazza.” Louis grinned at his partner, gazing at him fondly. “I don’t feel like I need to apologize for needing you anymore. Like I still need you and I’d rather have you by my side more than anything, but I’m less worried about telling people to fuck off now. We are what we are. They can deal.”

Harry made a noise in the back of his throat as he leaned down to crush Louis’s lips in a kiss.

“It always gets me when you talk like that, you know.” He said huskily. Then Harry’s eyes widened. “Hey, maybe that’s what the song needs! More grit, more...rawness.”

Louis tilted his head to the side, staring at Harry. What was he on about? And, more importantly, why wasn't Harry kissing him anymore?

“Like No Control, remember?” Harry continued. “You just let it be what it would be and the fans went wild. Maybe you need to make Strong 2.0 a little less romantic and a little more...frank.”

Louis hummed in response. Harry might be onto something...he stared off into space thinking...more raw…the same idea of Harry being his rock, but with more...frankness. More straightforward.

The two men sat there for a moment, Louis feeling his gears turning furiously as he thought of his song, Harry running his hands through Louis’s hair. They were startled a second later when a loud beeping from the kitchen jolted both of them back to the present.

“Shoot, I forgot about the timer. Let me get that.” Harry said, untangling himself from Louis. He hurried into the kitchen, turning off the timer, while Louis followed him absentmindedly.

Strong had been so important to Louis when he’d written it. He was still experimenting with his writing style, with figuring out how much truth he could put into his songs. He’d written Strong after a particularly hard week.

He and Harry had spent too much time apart and hadn’t been able to actually be together for a long while. They had finally been able to get away to Doncaster for a weekend and had had a long hard conversation about how they could continue lying to the public while still maintaining their relationship. That conversation, their promise to each other to keep going, had inspired Strong.

Louis would be less of a man without Harry. He was his North Star. His guiding light.

North Star...still sappy...but also, raw. Raw in that at the end of the day, Harry had always been the one to remind Louis of where they were going: a future, together, with no lying about who they were or who they loved. Houses in the UK and LA, children, growing old together. A full, beautiful life.

They were finally on the way to that future together. And Harry still made Louis strong. But even more so, Harry made Louis brave.

Louis stood in the entrance to the kitchen and just watched Harry for a minute. Harry was pulling a pan off the stove and dishing risotto into a serving dish, there was a plate of garlic bread on the counter, an open bottle of wine (Louis’s favorite) next to some wine glasses, and the radio playing quietly in the background. The sun was filtering in through the window, casting rays of light that flickered off the marble countertops and shone on the dust particles floating in the air.

It felt like a moment frozen in time. Raw, frank, and so so perfect.

Louis smiled, and stepped into the kitchen, reaching out to grab the bottle of wine and the plate of garlic bread after kissing Harry on the shoulder. He knew in his gut his song was sorted. He’d write it and re-record it with Liam tomorrow.

Tonight, he was going to enjoy dinner with the love of his life.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> If you liked this fic, I’d love you to share it! Click [here](https://iamasphodelknox.tumblr.com/post/160820791794/title-where-were-going-author-asphodelknox) for the masterpost to reblog! Find me on tumblr [here](https://iamasphodelknox.tumblr.com/).


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